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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23568262">On West 53rd</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/softjoycebyers/pseuds/softjoycebyers'>softjoycebyers</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ocean's 8 (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Constance is only mentioned but her presence is felt, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Lou is a soft romantic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:42:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23568262</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/softjoycebyers/pseuds/softjoycebyers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There's things I wanna say to you but I'll just let you live like if you hold me without hurting me you'll be the first who ever did. </p>
<p>A tale of what ifs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On West 53rd</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm just as shocked as you are that I actually finished writing something, surprise! </p>
<p>I may have written this with Cinnamon Girl by Lana Del Ray stuck in my head at 3AM last night. </p>
<p>As always all mistakes are mine, I'm a one person editing editing machine. Please save your tomato throwing until the end.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Everyone go home?” </p>
<p>Debbie asks as she walks towards the couch holding two steaming mugs of hot tea, she playfully nudges Lou’s long legs out of the way, handing the woman her drink. </p>
<p>She plops down next to her, snuggling into Lou’s side as she stretches out one arm over the back of the couch, using the pillow on her lap as a coaster. </p>
<p>“Yes,” Lou nods, but after a brief pause says, “well, almost everyone. Constance asked if she could sleep over. I can practically hear her wheels scratching up my floor,” she grumbles. </p>
<p>Debbie laughs, “getting grumpy in your old age huh?” </p>
<p>“Speak for yourself, hon,” Lou says, taking a sip of her tea and poking Debbie’s side with her free hand, making her snort. </p>
<p>They sat in comfortable silence, enjoying the quiet in the loft now that they had it. The only sound was the steady rhythm of Constance’s wheels rolling back and forth overhead. </p>
<p>“I saw you that day, you know,” Debbie says softly. It had been a while since anyone spoke and she was afraid to disturb the lull they’d fallen under, she resists making eye contact with Lou but could feel the other woman’s eyes on her. </p>
<p>Debbie felt Lou tense beneath her, she didn’t have to look at her to know she was confused. </p>
<p>“I was coming up on West 53rd Street,” she continues. “You didn’t see me but I saw you,” her voice was a million miles away. It was a memory she buried long ago, a moment in time she hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on. </p>
<p>“The day I was arrested,” the words hung heavily between them. </p>
<p>“Debbie — ”</p>
<p>“Don’t, it was so long ago.”</p>
<p>She’d forgotten exactly where she was headed that day, probably somewhere to meet Claude, when she had gotten a glimpse of blue in her peripheral vision and she knew it was <em>her</em>. Debbie wasn’t sure what made her stop, and she could have ignored it, she hadn’t actually seen Lou’s face yet but <em> it was her</em>. She was standing at one of those Halal trucks across the street. </p>
<p>Debbie could always pick Lou out from a crowd. Regardless of what the other woman wore, and whether she cared to acknowledge the looks or not, the way Lou commanded attention was effortless. Debbie’s eyes naturally gravitated towards her, a skill that served them well while they were still partners. She’d recognize the blonde anywhere. </p>
<p>“You were with someone,” she admits dejectedly. </p>
<p>Debbie knew she had no right to be upset over that, she forfeited any claim to Lou the moment she walked out, yet the urge to cross the street had been so strong. </p>
<p>Lou takes the mug from Debbie’s hand and puts it on the side table along with her own. </p>
<p>There were so many things they hadn’t talked about, choosing instead to take it one day at a time. But they were bound to unravel eventually, she just didn’t know in what way. Lou didn’t like to think about their time apart any more than Debbie did, though it was a harsh reality they needed to confront sooner rather than later if they ever wanted to move forward. </p>
<p>“Debbie, please,” Lou pleads. “Look at me.”</p>
<p>It’s another few seconds before Debbie turns her head up to meet Lou’s eyes, “hey,” she smiles gently, “why are you telling me this now?” There’s no bitterness in her tone, only genuine curiosity. </p>
<p>Debbie isn’t sure she knew the answer to that, navigating emotions was still relatively foreign. </p>
<p>“I don’t know – I’m not one to linger on what ifs but I guess I have time now.”</p>
<p>Claude was never meant to be permanent. It was only supposed to be about the job, then she’d go back to Lou and prove that all her worrying was for naught because they had been successful. But she fucked up. And if there was one thing Debbie Ocean was better at than running cons, it was self-sabotage. </p>
<p>Debbie remembers making it to the end of the crosswalk when she saw another woman approach Lou. She saw Lou throw her head back and laugh at something she said, and then Debbie decided very quickly not to cross when the sign turned. Suddenly, irrationally upset with herself more so than with Lou, she reluctantly accepted to leave it be. Ultimately, she had been the one who decided how it was going to end for the both of them. </p>
<p>Lou, however, for the life of her could not remember who she was with that day. She wasn’t really the dating type so that couldn’t have been it, and the one person she wanted to be with didn’t want her.</p>
<p>She does recall the night Debbie was arrested. Danny, having eyes and ears everywhere called her almost immediately after it happened. She remembers that devastating feeling, the guttural sob that came out of her at the news, as if she’d just been stabbed. She felt helpless knowing she couldn’t stop what came next, that there was nothing she could do for Debbie. </p>
<p>If Debbie had come to her earlier it might have changed everything. Or maybe nothing at all. </p>
<p>But Lou would be kidding herself if she said she wouldn’t have tried her damndest to get Debbie to stay with her. In a heartbeat she would have taken the other woman back because a part of her still held out hope that Debbie would come to her sense about Claude Becker and realize he wasn’t as charming or as clever as he purported himself to be. </p>
<p>Lou hugs Debbie tighter to her side, kissing the crown of her head, first, then her jaw, and then finally her lips. </p>
<p>“Why didn’t you cross the street? You should have crossed the street.”</p>
<p>“Maybe I should have.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have about 4 WIP's and this wasn't one of them haha but I keep trying. </p>
<p>Your comments feed my soul tho, drop me a line if you want they're always appreciated (:</p></blockquote></div></div>
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